It all started way back in 1979 with the Atari--just kidding. I hadn't even spawned until 1983 so I won't regale you with my entire gaming history. I've been gaming since, well, as long as I can remember. My memory isn't the best but I do remember rocking some Burger Time and Pitfall back on the Atari whatever-version-was-the-last-because-back-then-they-released-new-updates-via-new-consoles-instead-of-patches. I believe that's how it started and how I got hooked(on hamburgers and jumping over gaping holes).

As most young gamers, Nintendo was the be all, end all of console gaming(until the GameCube happened, zing!) so that is where I got my real start, with the NES. I played the shit outta my NES, SNES, etc. Then Sega Genesis/PlayStation1 happened and I was 2cool4school to get one(read: mommy wouldn't buy them for me) so I skipped a generation or two until the N64 and I've bought every console since that generation.

Around 1998, my friend introduced me to PC Gaming and Half-Life(this is when he went from just a regular-friend to BFF)! Team Fortress Classic, Counter-Strike, Science & Industry, FireArms, so many a good times were had. Until 2005 when my PC became obsolete and couldn't run anything that wasn't running on a modified Quake1 engine.

So I bought a 360 and haven't gone back to PC gaming since. Not for lack of wanting, I just don't have the time/cash to invest in a whole new rig because I know I would want top-o-the-line parts.

I also bought a Wii and PS3(Slim) at launch!

As far as my name goes: When I first played Half-Life online, I needed a username and at the time I was kind of into Rammstein/Germany. Fast forward to 2010 and while I may not be into Rammstein as much, I've kept the name. Why? I am strongly opposed to the type of person who changes usernames on a whim. I made a decision, and I am going to stick with it! I'd rather be stuck with a less-than-desirable name than to be seen as fickle. That should clear things up for the "lol u liek rammstein so ur opinion means nothing" trolls.

Well, damn, there's no room left for the 'About Me' part! Oh, well, not that interesting anyways. I'm just a dude who likes games. A ton. It's my favorite hobby, so I've invested a few thousand dollars in hardware/software because of it.

I'm on Twitter. Hit me up, I spend a lot of time on it and I'll talk about mostly anything.

While browsing the Steam store two weeks ago, it donned on me that there was no community group, official or otherwise, for the game Bastion. I decided to check the official forums to see what sentiments towards the idea of a community group were. As someone who rather enjoyed Bastion--Mr. Sterling's less-than-glowing review notwithstanding--I was looking forward to discussing the idea with like-minded people. What I found was something that left me scratching my head. It seems that Supergiant Games had committed a cardinal sin. The glaring ommission of hats.

As of last week, there were about a dozen or so threads in the Bastion forums. All of them questioning the game's worth. Comments like "$15 is too much!" or "Why is there no pre-order discount?!" were very common the topic of all of these threads. I decided to read these threads because I wanted to see if people were honestly bothered by the game not offering a $1 discount and that it was indeed 'too expensive' or if these statements were just the work of trolls.

I found that this was indeed a common opinion on the forums and that people were genuinely pissed over Supergiant Games' decision not to include TF2 Hats as a pre-order option or at all. Negative comment after negative comment about the developer and it's 'business practices' quickly made me rethink my desire to talk to these people, much less care what they thought of the game. All because the developer didn't have the virtual-equivalent of new barbie dresses, for their TF2 dolls.

I found my post count nearly doubling on the Bastion forums alone, trying not so much to argue with these people but to ask if they were seriously about to pass up one of the best games of the year over such frivolous issues and in trying to assure others that the game was indeed worth a look.

Not since my time with World of Warcraft(5 months sober, tyvm) have I seen such clamor for virtual, in-game items. The main difference here being Blizzard recognizes that there are people willing to throw their money away on such things and offers a multitude of cosmetic items for people to buy. Can't make it to the annual Blizzard convention, Blizzcon? Not a problem, for a price, you can watch it from home. Your $40 also gets you an in-game pet that you can parade around for others to point and laugh at. This could easily be misconstrued as an anti-virtual item rant, that is, if I wasn't guilty of purchasing said items myself(Hey! 50% of proceeds from my $10 virtual Pandaaren Monk pet purchase went to charity, OK!?).

This hat debate was such an issue that, as of last week, the only developer post on the official Bastion forums, was a response to the outcry for hats. It was a reasonable argument against putting hats into the game. The explanation being that it wouldn't make sense with the game's style and then there's the minor fact that, in Bastion, there are no hats. Did this ease tensions? Of course not. People simply asked for the kid's(main character of the game) hair be made into a hat.

Scalping.

It was at this point that I finally gave up, threw my arms up, shook my head and walked away. If people were willing to skip out on a good game because of virtual items, so be it. I quickly learned a lesson in arguing with trolls; Don't.

The game has since launched, today, August 16th, 2011, without nary a problem--that hasn't already been patched within the first few hours of the game's release. The Bastion forum now boasts over 3 pages of threads, the majority of which seem to be overwhelmingly positive. I'm sure the developers are breathing a sigh of relief that their game has been so well received on PC as well Xbox.

So, what have I learned throughout all this?

You might not agree with Hitler's politics and beliefs but you gotta give it to the guy; He certainly gave the people what they wanted.